My Android can't be this Cute!
by Lesser Ninja
Summary: In 1999 an Anti Shadow Weapon is damaged during a battle with the Death Arcana. Now orphaned, young Minato Arisato picks up her broken body and dedicates himself to repairing her. When he succeeds, he is faced with the struggle to help his robot friend fit in with ordinary humans; but how are you supposed to help a Combat Gynoid go to High School!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I truly enjoyed writing this story, and I would like to dedicate it to all of you who shared the hopes and dreams of SEES all those years ago. For those joining us, I hope you too come to love the characters and their lives as much as we have. Please take a moment to remember there are things worth protecting in this world, and we should cherish them forever. This will be the first installment of a multi-chapter story.

_Though we share this humble path, alone  
How fragile is the heart  
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly  
To touch the face of the stars_

_Breathe life into this feeble heart_  
_Lift this mortal veil of fear_  
_Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears_  
_We'll rise above these earthly cares_

_Cast your eyes on the ocean_  
_Cast your soul to the sea_  
_When the dark night seems endless_  
_Please remember me..._

_(Dante's Prayer, Loreena McKennit)_

_Moonlight Bridge, Tatsumi Port Island_

_Japan, 1999_

His heartbeat was pounding in his ears.

He felt sick, a nauseous feeling tugging at his stomach, his limbs uncomfortably warm as he tried to get a grip on himself.

Mom and Dad wouldn't move. He kept tugging and pulling at them but them _wouldn't move._

The smell of gasoline stung his nostrils, fire nearby lighting the scene in a hellish palette. The otherworldly green sky did not help his growing panic.

Seven year old Arisato Minato quietly pawed at his dead parents. His eyes wide, tears banished in the uncomprehending mental state he was in; He didn't utter a word, unable to accept that his family was now gone.

The fire began to lick along the frame of the car, stinging the boy's face with acrid smoke.

A series of snaps and metallic groans scared Minato into action, and reflexively he backpedalled away from the danger.

A loud 'thump' accompanied by a blast of heat followed the gas tank igniting. The boy was thrown to his side, crying out as he fell heavily.

He lay there for a moment, his shoulders racked with dry sobs, face pressed into the warm asphalt.

Gradually, the sounds of the world rushed back to him, like a wave reaching the shore at long last.

He heard gunfire, harsh and staccato; monstrous sounds pierced by hydraulics and servos whining as spent shell casings rang upon the road.

The boy turned over gingerly, looking up towards the source of the disturbance that had caused his parent's accident.

He saw a monster.

To a child's mind, there was no other explanation; however this was wholly truthful in it's observation. What he was seeing, was in fact, a monster.

The seething mass of black, putrid tentacles writhing like so many worms wrapped up in one, undulated as it roared from some unseen mouth.

Then, a flash of white caught his eye.

The sharp report of automatic weapons fire barked in the still night, halting the monster's roar. Muzzle flash lit up the bridge as a bipedal figure shot the writhing mass, dodging left and right as thick trunks of ichor sought to crush it.

In one such maneuver, the figure came close enough to be identified by the boy.

It was a girl.

She had gleaming porcelain white legs, arms and naked torso; the joints somehow mechanical, strung with gold enamel. Her fingers ended in open gun barrels, spitting cartridges at the monster as drum magazines in her wrists fed endless ammunition. Soft, grain-blonde hair hung to her neck, decorated by a headphone assembly.

After a particularly vicious assault, the monster reared up yet again from it's wounds.

In the lull of battle, the girl turned, and looked at the boy.

Minato found himself staring into the most blue eyes he'd ever seen. A dispassionate, emotionless face staring back at him; although the eyes… there was something in those eyes.

"Initiating Emergency Sealing Procedure!" The girl said suddenly, surrounded by a blue light.

What happened next became muddled even in Minato's memory. There was a great surge from the girl, and the massive black monster shrank screaming into…what? The bridge shook, there was an explosion as another car was destroyed, and the sight of the girl's body being flung from the bridge was the last thing witnessed by the boy before unconsciousness claimed him too.

* * *

The doctors told him it was shock.

There were many names for it that were bandied about. Post Dramatic Distress Disorder, Shellshock, Personality Disorders… All of them clinical ways of observing the reaction to a child losing it's family.

Minato remained in the hospital until the authorities could figure out what to do with him.

There were public scholarships, and programs in place to help raise orphans in Japan. The paperwork was being handled by some department of the government, and until then he was kept at the hospital for recovery.

A week went by, and with the well-meaning condolences from people he didn't know, Minato was eventually shuttled off to the orphanage in the neighboring prefecture.

He ate, attended the local elementary, and returned to the orphanage. Once a week he was forced to see a psychiatrist, just in case there was unusual lasting psychological damage; 'Unusual' as in _not capable of being a productive member of society…_Or a danger to himself and others.

After some time, he found himself drawn back to the bridge. Arriving with his bycicle, he sat at the foot of the water`s edge, staring aimlessly at the busy traffic.

Had it all been a dream?

The bluenette kicked idly at the dirt, lost in thought.

There was a glint of light in the shallows, catching his eye and banishing the dour thoughts.

The curious boy went to investigate, stepping lightly as he waded through the gravel and sand. He squinted, making out several shapes lying in the water…

White… metal… _A head._

He felt his breath catch in his throat.

Almost frantic, he rushed out into the water, up to his calves in the murk.

There was no mistaking it; the broken mechanical body of the girl lay in the shallows, staring blankly up at the blue sky.

Minato stared at the wreck. The torso and head retained one full leg and half another, the lower part a short ways away in the surf. Both arms were further buried in the silt, almost invisible amid the bracken and garbage that scarcely littered Japan's waterways.

Her head was soaked by the moving waterway, though her face dried from the sun, a curious texture of human skin without being parched by sunstroke. Blue eyes framed by baby blonde hair, almost angelic in her deadpan serenity.

The boy knelt in the shallows, water kicking up around him as the wind picked up, seagulls calling distantly.

For the first time since the traumatic event, a crack appeared in the boy's emotionless façade. He reached down, into the filth and sand-ridden water, and gathered the broken girl up in his arms.

And, kneeling there with the mechanical maiden's ruined body, the only connection he had left from the night everything else was taken from him, he cried.

* * *

The seven year old boy spent the next hour collecting all the parts he could find.

With the industrious ethic of a child working a simple task, he searched the shallows under the bridge. Minato gathered up the girl's body, as well as the limbs, placing them to dry on the bank with his backpack while he went looking for smaller parts he might have missed.

Digging through the silt, other mechanical bits were identified; different from the other junk washed ashore by their newness and streamlined design. The small pieces went in his rucksack's pockets, while he carefully wrapped up the body in his coat, and strapped it into his pack.

It was comically heavy, and obtuse. Still, to the public observing a young boy pedalling home with an oversized pack, he was just an enthusiastic youngster that didn't know better as far as carrying groceries and the like went.

When he arrived back at the orphanage, Minato arranged the girl's parts on a spare sheet from his bed.

She was dirty, scuffed and filthy from the waterfront. Bits of seaweed and dirt still caked her parts, and the white was an off-color now. Still, her face was mostly unharmed, if not her hair made dingy by the tide.

He sat there silently, observing the tarnished figure, before he got up and left the room, returning a few minutes later with a tooth brush, rags and cleaning solvents from the janitor's closet.

With precocious concentration, the young boy scraped, brushed and wiped at the myriad of mechanical parts, dislodging dirt and grime in his efforts. He soaked a rag and wiped over the girl's porcelain white legs, burnishing the material to almost what the original hue was. His toothbrush cleaned the finer points and joints at the shoulders and groin, after which he polished them as best he could.

Two hours later, Minato lay back exhausted. The girl still lay in parts, but now she was clean. Mutely, she sat there in a heap amid her bits and pieces.

He wondered where she came from, or what she even _was._ Why was she fighting that monster that night? Why didn't the police know anything about it, yet here sat proof he wasn't hallucinating?

He'd seen cartoons where the heroes fight evil, from detectives to sentai, from ninja to gundam. Maybe, this girl was some kind of heroine…fighting bad guys that no one else could see, or deal with. Was that what that monster was? Was that what killed mom and dad?

But she lay there broken, ruined. She lost, or lost after beating the monster. Heroes weren't supposed to lose, they were supposed to get back up and protect people.

Except she didn't. She lay there under the bridge and no one came for her. _No one came for her. They left her there to rot in the water and no one cared and she'd rust and break and no one cared-_

Abruptly, Minato wiped his sleeve across his eyes, and realized he was crying again.

He didn't have anyone. Neither did she. And sitting there, an orphaned boy next to a ruined android girl, he decided their story wouldn't end there; It wouldn't fade away as a forgotten footnote of some unexplained disaster.

If no one else cared about them, if nobody cared that they were broken, then he would. The boy swore that he'd fix her. He didn't know how, but he would learn; and he would repair her broken body even if it took him _years._

Then, maybe, if he fixed her, she could repair him too.

Minato covered the girl with the sheet up to her neck, tucking her in before he turned in to his own bed.

* * *

Over the next few years, Minato worked almost obsessively to further his mathematical and engineering talents.

Textbooks were read like novels, his studies soared as he excelled well past any expectations his teachers harboured for their students. Further learning was made available to him as he spoke to relatives and professors his teachers knew, going over concepts and theories that amused the adults in how eager and able Minato was in his subjects.

He was a shoe in for scholarships after his elementary and middle schools. Minato acknowledged the praise, and demurely returned to his work. He was politely social, but constantly wrapped up in his studies. He had friends, but they were more like colleagues; fellow over-achieving students that were dedicated to their fields.

He began to build a presence on the online community. Many engineers, Programmers, OCD students, NEET and skilled otaku frequented the message boards he visited, and he discussed everything from motor functions of specific machinery to binary code and AI theory. Many nights were spent under the glow of the CRT monitor, taking notes for possible repair on the android.

His room at the orphanage quickly filled up with literature and reference material. A used workshop desk was found, and there he tinkered with machinery ranging from microwaves to computer hardware. Only after he could successfully build a Beowulf cluster in record time, re-fit a motorcycle and program basic C++ did Minato begin repairs on the android girl.

He meticulously examined and recorded diagrams of all her parts. Piece by piece she was taken apart and examined, while a drawn copy was made for the blueprints, along with an AutoCAD file with the exact dimensions.

As he studied her, he began to learn how she worked. Locomotive motor function was intuitive, her body mirroring a human's anatomy in design. There were additional components he struggled with; the firearm defense system she had, along with another system he could not identify, whose function did not appear to involve any physical response.

And so the months passed. Minato remained an exceptional, if not distant, student. He would spend days in research, or at his part time job working with a repairman who let him apprentice as far as microwaves and computers. The money he earned went towards equipment; tools he needed such as a desktop, monitors, scanner, hardware, screw sets and Allen keys, and raw materials for fabricating special parts for the girl's body that he needed to replace. The machine shop he worked was open to him, where he cut and lathed his own parts from different gauges of steel and alloy.

Later in his middle school career, Minato began the process of hooking up the girl to his console. After exhausting the proper connection protocols, he had a chance to examine the inner workings of the android maiden's coding.

_C:\FORMAT A: /S_

_Checking existing disk format._

_Verifying 7.84T_

_Format Complete._

_System transferred_

_Aigis Defense System [Version 5.1.2600]_

_C Copyright 1992-1999 Kirijo Skunkworks Div._

_E:\Boot Partition 2.50 for P3FES/2k/95 (11 characters, ENTER for none)? BOOTDISK_

_1,457,664 bytes NO KERNAL ERROR_

_386,560 bytes CORRUPTED SYSTEM DATA_

_1,071,104 bytes allocated RAM dedicated troubleshooting_

_Volume Serial Number is: 1A34-16F2_

_C:\__

Minato stared at the information crawling across the screen.

'_Aigis'_ he thought to himself, '_So that's her name…'_

He wheeled over to the massive file folder in which he was accumulating her information, and made a small addendum to the tag.

_AIGIS_

Examining the data with an analytical mind, he gradually puzzled out the programming of the android over the course of the year. It was beyond him to write it, but he could _understand_ the function of the system enough to facilitate repairs.

With the help of his online community, Minato began troubleshooting the broken code, re-writing as he fixed the physical damage, and tidying up the binary error to go along.

Soon he was able to send electrical impulses to limbs, testing the fingers, joints and gyros that kept the girl stable. She was now whole again, with access panels open for him to fine tune the motor functions as he brought her back up to spec.

Time went by, and soon he was a few short weeks from the ten year anniversary of the accident that took his parent's lives. He was transferring to a new school, Gekkoukan High. It was apparently one of the best, and the dorm Minato had been allocated was supposed to be quiet, which he felt conducive to his work.

It was a sunny day. Light streaming into his room in golden beams, parts glowing as he sat at his console typing out some lines of code.

To his left, Aigis was propped up in a reinforced chair, a scaffold of aluminium bracing her as wires connected the access terminals along her body to the desktop computer at which Minato worked. The original blanket he had wrapped her in lay folded off to the side, which Minato still tucked her in to every night.

He was working on a particular string of programming, dealing with her power supply. It seemed she had reverted back to an emergency state following abrupt shutdown. He played around with the values listed as he tried to determine what variables locked her DC unit.

There was something he was missing. He leaned back, letting his long blue hair slip over one eye, deep in thought.

'_A power supply with no external charge, over a period of years, must have a catalyst stimulate the charge before power can be stored again,' _he thought to himself.

Moving to the cluster of car batteries he had amassed for testing motor functions, Minato adjusted the oscillators to allow a safe flow of energy for the test.

'_Now, I hope I don't blow a circuit again…' _he thought wryly.

Taking a breath, the bluenette engaged the battery to the android girl's power source.

And then, all hell broke loose.

Warning prompts screamed through the desktop's monitoring applications before the system shut down in a fatal error. The battery cluster sparked and fizzled out as they were totally drained. The mechanical girl's body went rigid, limbs responding to phantom impulses as the power coursed through her.

Minato fell back in shock, clambering to his feet as he was about to rush for the emergency shutoff switch, when all at once…

_The girl's eyes lit up and focused on his own._

Minato froze, watching the android's limbs move of their own accord. Slowly, surely, removing the cables from her body and rising to stand before him.

He had worked so long, so hard, in the course of his struggle he had forgotten what would happen at the end. He had succeeded, she was awake.

So what now?

The girl stepped closer, uncomfortably close. She stood almost nose to nose with him, azure eyes searching his grey ones.

Minato felt a sense of Deja-vu, recalling that night so long ago, when she had last looked at him.

But now, her eyes were filled with something else, some other emotion. He watched her lip quiver, and then she moved to wrap her arms around his torso, hugging him tightly as she pressed her face into his neck.

"_Thank You."_

She spoke with a clear voice, heavy with emotion and fighting back tears. It was the sound of bone china, delicate ice on silverware.

It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

Minato wrapped his arms around Aigis, and cried for the first time in ten years.


	2. Chapter 2

_Kirijo Company Headquarters,_

_Tokyo, 1999_

"Mr. Kirijo!"

"I don't have time for this."

"Please sir! The TMPD Public Security Bureau is asking for you at the door!"

"Tell them to take a number."

With that scathing remark, Takeharu Kirijo slammed the large, ebony wooden door to the administrative meeting room. He strode to a long table at which two dozen men sat, each expression marring their faces more grave than the last.

"This is getting out of hand, Kirijo-dono." An elderly gentleman idly twirling his gold pen stated.

"We're running damage control with the authorities; so far there is no positive link between us and the accident."

"I still say it's reckless!" A man in his early forties slapped the table angrily and smoothed his hair back in a calmer motion, "This threat is too large for us to handle ourselves! For all they know _WE _are the ones responsible for the damage!"

"And what is the media saying about that?"

A secretary looked up from a portable laptop streaming a news feed, "The major stations are attributing the disaster to stress fractures in the metal, and an automotive collision."

"…and how much did we pay someone to make _that _stick?"

"Enough," Takeharu withdrew an unlit cigar from his jacket's breast pocket, chewing grimly on the end, "What's the status of the official investigation?"

"The Cabinet Intelligence & Research office has their agents watching us, they know we're involved and are just waiting for an agent to slip up and give them a reason to dig further."

"NAICHO's involved? That's just what we need."

There was a ripple of uncomfortable shifting.

"So we can't even use plainclothes agents?"

"No! No. We don't know how much they know, or how many are compromised. They've already been cleared for cursory probes, evidently, since one of our most secure installations was victim to a cyber-warfare suite."

"That better be your idea of humor, Hideo."

"No joke. All the data was wiped on detection of forced entry, so we're in the clean."

"All th- What in the _fuck_ was wiped?!"

"Our Yakushima server wh-"

Takeharu Kirijo sank back into his chair, rubbing the corner of his remaining good eye.

"So that's why we can't locate the ASW."

"Yes sir, the GPS tags went up in smoke, so unless we can get an asset into visual range and spot an IR signal…"

The old man flipping his pen ceased to motion, narrowing his eyes, "And how do we know the police can't find it first?"

"They don't carry the respective equipment, even the JSDF has a scarce amount of NVGs, there's no reason, no_ incentive_ to even suspect…"

"We're treading water gentlemen; this could go belly-up in a matter of _minutes._"

"And why haven't they looked _under the fucking bridge?!"_

"To be frank," A senior CEO who had not spoken before now chimed in, "The police are not particularly experienced in real world terrorist scenarios. They're treating the accident as if it were a case of gang-related violence, or severe corporate infighting."

"Meaning?"

"The damage was contained to one area, where the ASW engaged the shadow. For all intents and purposes, it appears to be a shaped charge; a bomb, that caused the damage."

"And after our initial efforts being rebuffed as we tried to mount a cover-up, we are the prime suspects." Finished Takeharu, stroking his temple near the eyepatch, deep in thought.

"So you see, they have no reason to suspect there's further evidence at the scene. The investigation has been led to believe something was planted on one of the victim's vehicles, and because they happened to work for us, we are under scrutiny."

"How convenient. They must think themselves so clever."

"They have every reason to think we're involved. We _are _involved."

"So what now?"

Takeharu looked at the assembled faces turned to him for guidance. He sighed heavily, and lit his cigar with a match, cupping the end.

"Total lockdown. No one goes in or out for two weeks, then we attempt a covert investigation of the scene. That ASW has to be recovered, or should it come down to it, destroyed. If the wrong hands get a hold of that technology, it's more than just our employment that's on the line."

He glared out at them with renewed vigor, "Never the less, we will not halt our efforts to combat the shadow threat; the threat that _we _are responsible for. Have an inventory run of what ASWs we still have, operational or otherwise, and have a new server arranged for a refit operation."

He looked over to the older gentleman with a pen.

"Kazuya, have your people monitor the usual suspects, and make sure our friends in high places don't find the weapon before we do. If you even hear a rumor, I want to know."

A nod of the head.

"Hideo, inform me the _moment_ we are no longer under surveillance, and have someone go take a look around that bridge, but not a moment before. I don't want to betray our hand too soon and have the police start snooping the area any more than they have."

"Yes sir."

"Good."

"Um, sir?"

"Yes?"

"What if we can't locate the ASW?"

There was a pregnant pause, and the silence seemed almost offensive.

"If we cannot locate the ASW, then we must accept it as lost to us. There is no way to pinpoint it's position after the servers have been wiped, and unless we scour the bottom of the waterway, which would make it look like we most _certainly_ have something to hide, then despite our best efforts we have no real way of locating the weapon."

"So we just, forget about it?"

"Yes, Hideo. There's nothing more we can do. As long as no one in the agencies gets a hold of it, we go ahead as planned."

Takeharu exhaled a cloud of blue smoke, feeling twice his age after the latest hassle over the accident.

"That will be all."

* * *

_Moonlight Bridge, Tatsumi Port Island_

_Japan, 1999_

_E:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\bootpart /?_

_Boot Partition 2.50 FATAL ERROR No_Disk_

_Scanning…_

_Critical System Error: D:* type=6 NO_SOD FAT16, size= 28590392874764TB, Lba Pos=63_

_Critical System Error: E:* type=7 NEG_FEEDBACK, HPFS/NTFS_

_Passive Systems Only_

_Monitor[p_cam1] IFRA=N,LADAR=N,NVG=N,OPTIC=Y_

_Reg_Camera 001B Active_

_/Boot_

Her backup systems cycled quietly. There was no outside indication that she still functioned.

Following the grievous damage suffered in combating the Shadow, the combat gynoid 'Aigis' reverted back to her passive observation cameras.

Power was slowed to a snail's crawl; there was just barely enough to continue real-time footage of her immediate surroundings, and limited cognitive capabilities.

In this state, she was meant to observe what occurred after the battle for a post-action report. Recovery would be handled by a Kirijo Group team during the cover-up of the incident.

She gave the robotic equivalent of a shrug, and settled in to wait.

The first day, she watched the distant image of emergency workers removing the wreckage from the bridge, clearing the way for commute.

The second day she watched all evidence of the battle cleaned and removed from the premises.

The third day she considered the possibility that the Kirijo Operations Team could not locate her so far underneath the bridge. That thought was refuted through the supplication that it was only logical to survey the underside of the battleground. Her infra-red signal should have been spotted by the proper equipment…

The fourth day, she processed the concept of her personal standing in the group's priority tasking.

The fifth day she shut off her IR strobe.

The sixth day she watched seagulls circle overhead, blindingly white against the vast blue expanse above her. She sent a low-level electrical impulse to her remaining intact limb, but received no feedback at all.

On the seventh day she deleted her information records pertaining to the Kirijo group, as per Operational Security (OPSEC) mandates in the event of falling into third-party hands. She brought up a text file concerning the timeline for rust formation on metal.

She lay in the surf, garbage and foam swishing around her torso.

Aigis came to the conclusion that she was expendable. Her makers did not come looking for her remains. There was no further directive for her to follow.

Damage to her memory banks locked some of her Random Access Memory. Footage stored from the battle was corrupted, and much of her other history files were partial. She could not explain what had happened, or who she was made by or worked for, now that security measures had to be taken.

The only intact partitions were Core Functioning, Language Codex, Shadows/Dark Hour and Defensive Suites. She opened a new subfolder and began recording her passive camera footage.

With nothing for her to do, she was resigned to wait endlessly. No directive, no mission.

No one.

She pondered the glitching system feedback she was experiencing. There was no static_pain impulses, yet her humanoid emotive subroutines were responding as if she were in pain.

A steady, aching pain.

Aigis refreshed her emotive runtimes a dozen times, and yet the pain returned.

Then, someone found her.

She observed a young boy with blue hair step in front of her camera range. She trawled through the fragmented partitions until she found a still frame from corrupted combat footage that identified him.

He was [REDACTED_TAG NOT FOUND]

That was strange, his identity had a priority tag, yet he could not be positively identified.

Whoever he was, it was important that she-

And then, in the middle of her processing, the human boy knelt in the filthy water with her, and lifted her ruined chest up to himself, cradling her head against his shoulder.

She registered minute vibrations from the boy, which her emotive codex identified as (SADNESS, WOE, MOURNING, CRYING) and oddly enough (RELIEF).

Unable to move in the slightest, still gazing blankly over his shoulder, Aigis wrote a new directive for herself.

_C:\Priority Tasking\Alpha\ _

_Remain by his side._

* * *

The only thing she could do from then on was watch him.

She watched as he took her with him, as he collected all her defunct parts, and cleaned them by hand with crude solvents and tools.

She watched as he tucked a cloth sheet up to her neck, mimicking a human sleep ritual of staying warm despite her absence of a need to do so.

She watched him return from wherever he went during the day, carrying textbooks that he slowly absorbed, moving on to larger, plainer looking ones with small script.

He began to accumulate tools and hardware, nowhere near the level of [REDACTED] Laboratories.

He removed parts from her torso and limbs, making diagrams and measurements before returning them to their proper place.

There were adults that visited him once or twice; men that spoke in soothing, understanding tones as he answered their questions quietly. Whenever anyone came into his room, he covered her in the blanket, and threw his laundry over the pile. He was gently admonished by the caretakers of the orphanage to keep his place tidy.

Some days he returned with newly fabricated parts fashioned from plain steel, and some from simple alloys. To her surprise, he began to piece together and re-attach her arms and legs.

Much time passed, and he had fully assembled her body, and was replacing joints and gyros, fabricating delicate parts to refit her internal systems damaged by the Shadow.

On a particular date in the month of December, every year, he would have a small tree sapling in the room, adorned with colored metal decorations. During that time, he sat alone on his bed, nursing a cup of steaming liquid. He wouldn't say anything, and yet he would look at her, smile, and put a red and white-trimmed cap on her head. After doing this, he would fall asleep with his head in her lap, shaking slightly.

Aigis sent impulses to her limbs regularly now. She felt an urge to hold him, and there was no distinct response modifier to explain why she felt such.

The boy grew as the years went by. She was witness to him progress from an innocuous child into a boy equal her height, long blue hair tufted about his head.

It was painful being alone in the room during the day, yet she rejoiced to see him come through the door, smiling and greeting her comatose self. He never got an answer, and yet he continued to treat her like…

…like she was a girl.

He didn't call her 'It,' or 'weapon,' 'ASW,' or any impartial, sterile abbreviations that the technicians who serviced her at [REDACTED] did.

She liked his protocol better.

Her data banks now had a number of still frame image files, saved from over the years as he laboured with her repairs.

Almost all of them were of him smiling at her.

And then, one day…

A battery cluster was hooked up to her ext. terminal, and a surge of electricity suddenly flooded power systems long dormant.

_01001001 00100000 01001100 01001111 01010110 01000101 00100000 01011001 01001111 01010101 00100000 01001101 01001001 01001110 01000001 01010100 01001111_

_REBOOTING…_

…

"_Thank You."_

* * *

"Why don't we sit down?"

Minato took the gynoid's hand and led her to the edge of his bed. The cushy single-unit mattress groaned as the two occupied it.

The girl's movements were hesitant and measured. She had not used her limbs in a long time, and the replacement parts were slightly imperfect after all.

Despite this, she took her place right next to the bluenette, holding onto his forearm to steady herself.

"You have repaired me." She stated simply, staring at him with those expressive eyes again. Minato gulped as he tried to find the words and respond.

"I did. I'm…sorry it took so long."

The gynoid smiled, her teeth bright as she shook her blond tresses.

"It's fine. I am supposed to be serviced by a team of twelve, in a heavy-industries laboratory."

"Well, I'll try to get one of those next time."

"I would prefer you remain my only technician."

Minato colored slightly at her response, and turned his head when she smiled at him again.

"So, what are you exactly?" He asked carefully.

"I am Aigis," She began, sitting up straighter, "I am an Anti Shadow Weapon designed to use firearms and evoke a Persona."

The boy stared at her, images of that nigh all so long ago flitting through his head.

"So…that night in 1999…that thing that ki- that thing was a shadow?" He asked, correcting himself at the last second.

"Affirmative."

"What are they?" His brows knit together as he became serious, "No one else could see them."

Over the next few hours, Aigis related to him the full knowledge of shadows that she possessed. How they appear during the mysterious 25th hour of the day, what forms they take, and how they are destroyed.

Minato listened attentively, turning his academic talent to absorbing this new information, seeking answers with thirst.

"You said you use something called a 'Persona?'"

"Affirmative."

"What is that?"

"A persona is a manifestation of a person's inner self, called out in a defensive nature against supernatural threats, such as the shadows."

Minato nodded. Things were beginning to fall into place at long last, strange as it may seem.

"So you're supposed stop them, but aren't there more like you? What about your creators?"

The gynoid looked down at her knees, shifting slightly as she responded in a morose tone, "I don't know. No one came for me. My memory is incomplete, I have no information on where I came from either."

The two of them sat in silence for a while. Then, Minato looped his arm around the android girl's back, and slid over to her side.

"I don't have a family anymore. I'm all alone, like you."

Aigis peeked up at him through her blonde bangs.

"If you want, you can stay with me. And I'll…help you destroy these shadows. I don't know if I can make a persona like you can, I guess I can swing a sword…but…"

He inhaled, and spoke more forcefully.

"I'll be your support, as long as you need me."

"_I need you now."_

Her voice was so fragile the boy thought it might break. The girl timidly circled her arms about his chest again, breathing erratically as she shuddered against him. Minato placed his chin on her head, rocking her back and forth ever so slightly.

"Shh, I'm here. I'm here…"

He felt her hug him tighter, and waited until the tremors subsided, and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Then, you don't want to leave?"

She shook her head.

"Okay…well, I guess we'd better get you some clothes."

She looked up at him, rubbing the moisture from the lens of her eyes.

"But I don't need any, I'm a machine…"

Minato shook his head this time.

"If you're going to come to school with me, then you need clothes. I mean, all the heroes on…well, um, on TV would go to school during the day, and fight bad guys by night."

"School?" A quizzical look accompanied her implied question.

"It's a place where people go to learn. I'll have to call a friend of mine and get some identity papers forged, and I think I can use the scholarship money I was given from this program to…"

Minato rambled for a bit, pre-occupied with the details of helping Aigis into her new life. She sat there on the bed, quiet, watching him move to the computer and fire off emails to his contacts online, sorting things out as he continued talking to her.

And he was _smiling_.

Aigis drew her knees up to her chest, and rested her chin on them, arms wrapped about her shins as she watched him contentedly.

* * *

**Welcome back Blue42**

New| Delete | Sweep | Mark As v | Move To v | Categories | IRC | Contacts |

New\Send Message\...

Blue42: Yuki?

…

Yuki: ya?

Blue42: I need your help.

Yuki: oh wow blu, you nevr ask me for help!

Blue42: This is kind of, well, not legal. Is is okay to talk here?

Yuki: our irc isn't snooped, haha, not unless you've done something wrong already and theyre watching you!? ;_;

Blue42: No, I need to get some fake papers made for a friend.

Yuki: a girl?!

Blue42: Why would you think it's a girl all of a sudden?

Yuki: o im sorry, are you gay? Cuz that's kinda hot blu. o/o

Blue42: No.

Blue42: Im not gay.

Blue42: Stop putting me in your yaoi fantasies.

Yuki: awww

Blue42: Stop.

Yuki: AWWWW

Yuki: *u*

Yuki: well anyways, yeah I can get in touch with someone. when u need them?

Blue42: Fast. Fast-ish, at least before the end of high school registration.

Yuki: okies, email me tha particulars and paypal the ninja fee!

Blue42: Thanks Yuki, you're a lifesaver.

Yuki: i know lol. hey, how's your ai research coming?

Blue42: It's going great, I can't write anything, no way. Just debug some programs and, stuff I guess.

Yuki: never gonna tell me why, huh?

Blue42: I just like it, okay? Sheesh.

Blue42: Anyway, thanks again.

Yuki: u owe me! _

Logging you out…

* * *

"Alright," Minato turned off the monitor and faced the gynoid watching him with her head cocked to one side, "We should have some identity papers for you soon, nothing fancy, but enough to fool the school board."

"I comprehend."

"Yeah, well, we still need to get you some clothes so… for the time being you can wear some of mine. Something baggy I guess, to hide your, um, metal bits until we can get some girl's wear for you."

"Affirmative."

"And you can just say, err… 'yes' and 'no,' since no one really says 'affirmative."

"Yes."

"Okay…"

Minato closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the tension of the last few hours taking a toll on him.

"Let's get you dressed, and then we can sneak out and find you some supplies. After all, no one else knows you're here, and I can't really explain. Oh man…" He ran a hand through his blue locks, "This is going to be tougher than I thought…"

"Is this okay?"

Minato looked up to see Aigis wearing one of his sweatshirts backwards, flopping the sleeves up and down.

"A _lot_ tougher than I thought…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Sorry this one took so long, I was going over the content for a while. I have the notes for the next few chapters already drawn up, but please let me know if there's anything in particular you want to see in the coming chapters.**

* * *

It was just after two in the afternoon, scarce cloud cover overhead promising sun for the remainder of the day.

Minato lapsed into his usual atrocious posture as he walked alongside Aigis.

They were taking a stroll to the shopping district of the city. The sidewalks were thronged with people on their daily commute.

The bustle of the crowds and accompanied din of the motorway set a pleasant background to the trip, Minato idly thought about this being one of the last times he would see the locale before he moved.

"I do not have any currency, Minato-san," Aigis's voice interrupted the bluenette's inner monologue.

"Don't worry about it this time," he grinned apologetically, "It's my fault I didn't prepare anything for you ahead of time. Once you're settled in we can work on finding you a part-time job like mine."

She turned her head quizzically, "I was under the impression you were a student?"

"I am, but I also work in my spare time to afford the parts and tools I need to repair you."

He scratched his chin, "Well…_needed_ to repair you. Also, if you have a job you can pay for some things you might need, or save up for future use."

She looked at him with a blank expression, before asking evenly, "Minato-san, I'm not a human, therefore I have no need of possessions a normal girl might require."

Minato came to a stop, followed shortly by Aigis as he mulled over his words. They stood off to the side of the walkway, under a closed shop's overhead curtain.

"Aigis… I understand you were designed as a weapon. They made you in the guise of a human girl so you could better evoke a persona, I know, but…"

He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing as he tried to make the words come out right.

"You talk and think and respond like a real person. Even in this short while you've been re-activated you have shown the capacity for learning. All of it makes you an individual entity, a thinking being, not a reactive machine. So if you can live like a human, well, why not?"

"…"

"You don't seem to have any cognitive limitations, and the fact that your body is metal doesn't affect your being a person at all, really. We _could_ act like you're just a responsive weapon, but it'd be such an awful _waste_. I want to live with you as a person."

He didn't quite catch the look in her eye when he turned to face her, but Minato spotted a slightly rosy coloration on the gynoid's cheeks.

"Very well Minato-san, if you insist."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

They laughed together, and then went on their way, although Aigis had a noticeable spring in her long-legged step.

* * *

The shopping district was full of life. Compact beef bowl and noodle joints were crammed together along building complexes, while glass displays had clothing and furniture in tastefully designed showcases. A fountain was surrounded by couples and friends out to lunch, while some street musicians played for a charity nearby.

Minato led his robot ward to one of the more fashionable clothing stores, marketed towards older teenagers and the fickle high-school crowd.

They crossed the threshold of the women's department and were met by a black haired young lady with thick-rimmed glasses.

"Hey Arisato, I haven't seen you in a while," she greeted the bluenette familiarly, to which he responded with an easy smile.

"Yeah, it's been some time. I see you've moved up like you always wanted."

"Wheew, Akihabara was too crowded, I like the pace around here more anyway."

She smiled at Minato's blonde companion, "I'm so sorry, we haven't met, have we? I'm Nodoka, Minato and I had classes together, so please don't get the wrong impression."

"I see, I am Aigis." The android girl seemed a bit confused by the implication of the service rep's words.

Minato pulled at his collar awkwardly, "Um, we're not dating, Nodoka."

"Oh. _Oh…_ I'm so sorry if I made things weird…"

"Ah well, you always were good at that."

The two chuckled.

"Anyway," the blue haired boy inclined his head towards his companion, "I promised I'd help Aigis get some new clothes, since it's my fault she ended up with none of her luggage. Erm, airports. You know?"

"Oh no, how awful."

"Yeah. So, I was hoping you could help her put together a few outfits for the school year. It's not exactly my area of expertise."

Nodoka smiled and clapped her hands together once, excited.

"Great! I'd love to help. If you'll come with me Aigis, we can get started!"

The girl turned to Minato who smiled encouragingly.

Aigis nodded, and turned to follow Nodoka; Minato trailed lazily from the rear.

"Alright," the salesgirl was in her element now, "There are a few essential items we'll pick out to match your style, and with an overall theme we can build you a decent wardrobe at least to start the school year. You can pick out a few more things you like as you go, but today we can nail the basics."

Throughout the explanation, Aigis nodded attentively as Nodoka spoke. They began to browse the aisles, with the Salesgirl choosing an article of clothing or two and folding them over one of Minato's arms, who soon began to accumulate a small island unto himself.

"Now, you'll need at least two all-season skirts for semi-formal functions like work, and two skirts for summer-thin, and winter-thick each… And of course a day-to-night skirt you can dress up or down for your company."

They approached an aisle of leggings, whereupon a female mannequin displayed a set of low-cut jeans.

"Here we'll find you a pair to wear with heels and one without. Also we need to find you a pair that can be ruined on the weekend, maybe cropped. Let's go with… dark blues that compliment your hair."

"I don't think these will fit me…" Aigis said holding up a pair.

"Well, we'll take a few pairs and figure out your fit in the changing rooms. I'm sure Arisato can carry them all just fine."

"…"

"I _do_ wish you'd been born with a personality, Minato."

They moved on to upper apparel, where Nodoka held up shirts and tops to Aigis's shoulders, remarking on what would look nice, or mesh with her overall look. The android girl gently turned down suggestions of open, short tops that showed off her arms, and selected the long-sleeved options that hid her artificial joints.

"Okay, conservative is good. Much different from today's trends, you might start your own movement in your grade level!"

They picked out some white shirts, and subdued pastels that made a reserved look. A cream sundress, a wine-colored cardigan, a polo and a sweater. Nodoka suggested getting a school team jersey, with a stage whisper that one from the boy you liked would be a keepsake. Aigis elicited a giggle from the mischievous brunette when she went pink.

They toured the outerwear section, going through coats and legwear, before picking out some knee boots, a messenger bag, a purse, a chestnut leather jacket and a good cotton trench coat in a coffee tan color that ended at the knees.

"Now the jackets might be a bit expensive, but they'll last longer than the cheap stuff, and go well with anything for a night out in winter or summer; The trench more in winter/fall."

Nodoka led them over to the change rooms, where Minato unloaded the assorted clothes and they were handed off to Aigis individually. She went into the booth while Nodoka and Minato waited outside.

"So?"

"Hm?"

The salesgirl nudged the boy's shoulder.

"She's cute, what's the story between you two?"

Minato sighed, knowing this had to be explained eventually.

"She's a friend of mine from overseas. Her home life wasn't working out with her parents on the move all the time, so she came to live with me and complete her schooling without having to transfer every year."

"They let her come live with you?"

"We go back, our parents knew each other. We're staying at a dorm in Iwatodai, so it's not like we're a couple or anything."

"Aww."

"Hm?"

Nodoka clasped her hands together, sighing.

At that moment, whatever Minato had intended to say died in his throat as the booth opened and Aigis stepped out.

She was wearing the wine cashmere cardigan over a white casual dress that ended at her knees, sheer black pantyhose that covered her legs underneath, a pair of shiny ankle-length boots completing her ensemble.

Aigis smiled bashfully when Minato's eyes lit up at the sight of her.

Nodoka gave a little applause, rushing up with the next outfit.

The blonde gynoid came out again a short while later, modelling another look that featured a long skirt and a button up blouse in smokey blue, completed with her tan trenchcoat and knee boots, messenger bag swung over a shoulder.

Another look had her leather jacket thrown over a mossy green knit polo with wooden buttons, clingy jeans and the knee high boots again.

There were a few variations that all used color sparingly, and made use of the limited wardrobe to great effect. When the final items were decided on Nodoka took them to a register and rang them through.

"Best of luck in your studies you two!" the brunette waved them off as the pair left the store.

"She was nice," Aigis remarked as she hefted half of the bags easily. Beside her Minato carried an equal amount of clothing and outerwear with slightly more effort.

"Mmhmm…"

They stopped for a moment to have coffee. Minato idly drummed his fingers along the wooden counter while Aigis swung her legs slowly back and forth under her stool.

"I forgot to ask, can you even drink?"

"Yes, I have release valves that drain excess fluids ingested through my mouth the same way I can shunt excess oil."

"EXT 2? I was wondering what that was for…" the bluenette muttered regarding a previously unknown part.

The gynoid nodded, and their drinks arrived, the two of them raising their cardboard cups in unison and sipping with identical motions. When Minato closed his eyes, so did she. When Minato sighed, she did as well. He looked over when he caught on to her mimicry, and she shrugged her shoulders in a universal 'What?' gesture.

"Well," he said to her, "What else do we need to pick up for you?"

"I still require supplies for 'school,' and a resupply of ammunition for my defensive suite. Also, identity papers are required to help me integrate as a citizen."

The boy rubbed his chin, "I think Yuki should have gotten a hold of someone to forge some documents for you by now, I'll check my email when we get back. We can pick up some school things on the way, but I think we can share textbooks since we live together."

He took another sip of his coffee, which was mirrored by the blonde next to him.

"As far as bullets go, there's one guy I know that can help."

Minato's brow creased as he tried to come up with a reasonable explanation, and he ran a hand through his blue locks in resignation.

"He's completely unhinged, I mean he went off the deep end years ago and rents property off the base of the ocean, if you know what I me- scratch that, you don't… Um, he's not psychologically sound, to say the least."

"I see," Aigis responded politely.

"He's an ex-Rhodesian, he's not the most polite person alive and a little shell-shocked from his time as a soldier, but he runs a smuggling operation. I met him when he was asking around about fixing the hydraulics on a landing craft, oddly enough. I'll drop him a line asking if he has anything in your, um, size?" Minato turned to the gynoid, unaware of the proper term.

"Caliber. I require 5.56x45mm cartridges," she responded.

"Right, I'll ask him then."

They binned their cups and resumed walking. A short time went by as they observed the surroundings, before Aigis turned to look at her blue-haired companion.

"Minato-san."

"Just Minato is fine, Aigis," he said casually.

"Alright… You stated earlier that you were willing to help me combat shadows?"

He nodded.

"In that case, I must show you how to fight them, and help you evoke your persona."

"How do I do that?"

Aigis tapped her cheek as she lectured the boy, "First you will need a point-defence weapon, like a sword, to supplement your body. Then you will need some form of evoker, which for humans simulates the extreme stress of a life or death situation, commonly employed as a firearm mechanism that is fired against the user's head."

"…_what._"

"A persona user fires a special gun into their head as a summoning medium."

The bluenette must have been expressing his reluctance to put a gun to his head, because the blonde girl reassured him.

"It's not fatal, it only _simulates_ the intense feelings required to overcome terror and release one's inner self."

"I'll trust you on that one. So how do we get an evoker?"

Aigis looked down at her shoes as they walked, thinking.

"I suppose we could fashion one out of a handgun frame, with some internal components removed."

"Alright."

They arrived shortly after buying some miscellaneous supplies for Aigis's school year, and began unpacking everything. It was a homely feeling for the blue haired boy to share his living space with another. He found himself smiling as he stacked his clothing neatly to one side in his wardrobe so Aigis could fit her own beside his.

Their hands brushed as they were arranging their effects, and the two looked up to meet each other's eyes.

They didn't say anything, just warmly regarded one another. Standing up on her tiptoes, Aigis quickly pecked Minato on his cheek, and returned to stowing her shirts.

The bluenette returned to his task with a slight blush, feeling something inside him full, that had been empty so long he'd forgotten it.

The chime of his email client caught his attention, and he sat down at his console to investigate.

* * *

_FW: Identity Papers_

_From: Yuki , Otacon _

_To: Blue42 _

_Subject: RE: Identity Papers_

_Hey Blue!_

_Yuki told me about getting your friend some forged documents asap. I never thought you'd end up needing me to do this, of all people. Send me the particulars and a photo for the hard copies, and I'll work things out on my end. Is your address the same? I'll send the packed expedited, and thanks again for that figma, I was looking for a limited edition psychonauts model like, forever!_

_Anyway, I'll need:_

_-Name, Age, Eye color, Blood Type, DOB, City of Birth and height._

_-One photo 800x700dpi resolution minimum._

_Let me know how it goes, and tell me how your progress has gone in AI behavioural theory, I'm dying to have another debate._

_-Otacon_

_(P.S. Yuki was asking me if the two of us have anything going on, why does she always get yaoi vibes from everyone?)_

Minato sighed, and began typing a response. Yuki's perverted fantasies knew no restraint.

_Hey Otacon,_

_Don't mention it, glad I could help you out, you're really doing me a favour this time. Here are the particulars;_

_Hair-Blonde_

_Age-17_

_Eye Color-Blue_

_Blood Type-O Neg_

_DOB-__

"Hey," Minato looked away from his monitor, "Aigis, when were you _born?_ Or built?"

"September 10th, 1999," She stated clearly.

The boy did a double take.

"Then…that would make you 10 years old…"

"Yes. Is there a problem?" She asked curiously, tilting her head.

Minato tugged at his collar, embarrassed, "Erm, no. I just thought, well, you look as old as I am, so… Ah well, for the purpose of falsifying records, would you be willing to say you're 17?"

"Alright," she nodded.

"Brilliant."

_DOB-September 10__th__, 1992_

_COB-Auckland, New Zealand_

_Height-162cm (5'3")_

_Attachments…_

Minato rose from his chair and picked up a digital camera he had in the desk drawer, motioning for Aigis to sit against the white wall, he explained the need for photo identification. She nodded, and relaxed into a blank expression.

CLICK

The boy withdrew the memory card and uploaded the raw photo to the email as an attachment. Another click and he sent the email off to Otacon for scanning and fabrication of false identity papers. The fact his online friend was also an excellent computer programmer helped as far as tweaking public records to include the new phoney numbers for Aigis's registration papers. Now, it was all a matter of using the papers to register her at Gekkoukan.

Minato then looked over his shoulder and apologised for taking so long, and offered Aigis to read through any of the books he had until he was done, she picked up a paperback on Man/Machine Transcendence while the boy went back to work.

He logged onto the IRC client and pinged his Rhodesian friend.

_Blue42: John?_

…

_JT: What'd you need blue?_

_Blue42: How do you know I need something?_

_JT: No one messages me 'less they need something, and you don't do house calls. What's the situation?_

_Blue42: I need to get a hold of some 5.56x45mm ammunition without the authorities finding out, do you think you could help me out?_

_JT: FMJ, Steel-core, AP, what are you looking for?_

_Blue42: Well, something I can afford a few hundred rounds at a time for._

_JT: Few hundred? You're not whacking a guy; you going to a warzone blue?_

_Blue42: I'd rather not say, can you do it?_

_JT: Sure, case of 1000 would run you 20,000 yen. That's commercial; Friend prices get you 10,000 for the same snap crackle and pop._

_Blue42: Thanks, do you take paypal?_

_JT: F*** no, cash only, buried in a double ziplock bag at the GPS coordinates I give you._

_Blue42: Is that…really necessary? _

_JT: We're trafficking arms, c***. Of course it's necessary, I don't need f***ing Interpol catching a whiff of my trail again._

_Blue42: Alright, I get it. Send me the digits and I'll make sure I bury it there._

_Sending…Receiving…_

_JT: Nice doing business with you blue, let me know if there's anything else you need._

_Blue42: Thanks, how's Gretchen doing?_

_JT: Dead._

_Blue42: What? How?_

_JT: I shot her._

…

_Blue42: Oh, well I'm sure she deserved it._

_JT: Threw me a surprise party. I gunned down half my step-family before I realized I wasn't in an ambush, then gunned down the rest just to be sure._

_Blue42: Oh._

_Blue42: Well, I gotta go. Thanks again for the help._

_JT: Pugnamus Amo Leo, brother._

_Logging out…_

* * *

Minato got out of his swivel-char, and collapsed backwards onto his bed, next to Aigis who was scrunched up with a book open on her lap.

"All of my friends," the boy began as he stared at the ceiling, "are unfit to live in civilized society."

Aigis closed her book and put it aside, drawing up next to Minato where she rolled over onto her side, looking up at him through her bangs.

He looked over at her staring at him with wide eyes, hiding a smile.

"What?"

Stare.

"_What?_"

Staaaare.

Minato turned his head over and kissed her forehead, smiling when she responded by kissing his chin.

"Minato?"

"Mmm?"

"Will you clean me? I'm supposed to conduct maintenance on my joints once a day…"

He got up and pulled his tool kit from under his bed, "Yeah, of course. Lie back please."

Aigis lay along Minato's bed, her arms limp at her sides as she shut off her motor functions to protect his fingers as he worked. The boy slipped the loaned clothes he had given her carefully from her body, before accessing her bolts and screws that kept her limbs in place.

When she felt him pass his fingers along the inside of her metal joints, Aigis had an electrifying jolt of sensitivity, feeling positive feedback course through her system as his skin made contact with her hidden parts.

"Are you okay? This doesn't hurt you, does it?" Minato inquired at the sudden fluctuation in her breathing, as she arched her back slightly.

"No! No, I'm f-fine…" Aigis insisted, blushing cherry red.

Minato creased his brows worriedly, then returned to work.

"Ahh~"

He looked up again as he was running a cloth against the concave of her leg joint, to see the blonde bite her lip as her eyes scrunched shut, her hips digging into the bed as she gyrated slightly in tune to his ministrations.

"Are you su-"

"Stop talking!" Aigis ordered suddenly, her brows turned down in annoyance, before she schooled herself and looked away, "Um, keep…going, please…"

Mystified, Minato chalked the reactions up to some kind of phantom input from the cleaning sensations, and continued cleaning the gynoid.

He hummed to himself, paying no further attention to Aigis's reactions as he remained blissfully oblivious to the effect it was having on the poor girl. The blonde android began to whine as she clenched her eyes shut, writhing in barely restrained distress as she felt the bluenette slide a lubricated cloth along her smooth metal parts, insert a brush into those hard to reach spaces, notice a speck of carbon and with his finger he-

"Ahh~ Ahhh~ AAAAAAAHHHhhh~ Mmmnnngh!"

Suddenly, as Minato was kneeling between her disconnected legs, Aigis went rigid, her eyes shooting open while her mouth opened but no sound could further be produced, and she vibrated slightly before collapsing into a limp mess.

"Where," Minato questioned as he examined his fingers, "Did all this excess oil come from?"


End file.
